Public Secrets

Nora Roberts

At the age of three, Emma knew more about child abuse than anyone should have to know. She knew when to hide from her mother or when her mother was in a good mood. Yet even hiding did not protect her from the abuse. Then her birth mother turned her over to her rock star father in exchange for an annual sum of money. Her father took one look at the beautiful, abused child and took her home to his new bride. Emma now had a family who loved and cherished her.

But it's not easy growing up in a family that is always in the limelight. Her father's group remained rock and roll stars for over 20 years. There were drugs and sex and parties. At one party, the child Emma witnessed a kidnapping that turned bad. She still had shadows left from her mother, and ran away, blocking the memory.

Emma grows up watching the rock world from the inside and outside. Her father never let her go anywhere without bodyguards. She was in a Catholic boarding school all her school life. After a year in college, she started kicking out on her own. As much as she loved her father, her family, and the guys in the group, she needed to become her own woman. Plus the night of the kidnapping preyed on her mind. What, or who, had she seen?

What a gripping story! I picked this up thinking between work and other things it would take me until Friday to finish it. Thank goodness I didn't have to work tonight! I hated to put this book down more than five minutes at a time. Then I had to put it down to get away from its intensity. This is not an easy romance, but a gripping mystery. It has insights of physical and mental abuse, both on the mindsets of the people causing the abuse and the victim of it as well. Do not read this novel if you are depressed! This one will stay with you.

Notice: Non-graphic violence, Strong sexual content

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